Chairman's Chat

Photo provided courtesy of last EGRC committee meeting 😀


It was fantastic to see so many members taking on a marathon last weekend. I believe that 23 of you completed those 26.2 miles, that's over 10% of our membership! I know that some of you marathoners enjoyed yourselves so much you are looking for the next opportunity to run another one and some of you are even considering ultras. Whether you haven't yet managed 5k without stopping or whether you can run a sub-3 hour marathon, keep looking ahead for the next milestone, the next goal, the next challenge. The next six months will be tough as the nights draw in and the days get cold but we'll be here to support you, keep you motivated and keep you focussed on your targets. Please don't be afraid to ask if you need a hand with training plans, run buddys, goal setting. If we can't help, we hopefully know someone who can.

PS A massive thank you to those who supported marathoners on Sunday, I know this was hugely appreciated by everyone who ran and it was lovely that the club received compliments from non-members who were motivated by you all. 

It's been two months since we were able to restart club activities, albeit in limited numbers. There have been a few minor issues here and there but broadly, things are working well and the feedback the Run Leaders and I are receiving is very positive. Thank you Run Leaders for all you are doing to club members active and safe. 

Here's an excerpt from our Return to Club Activity Policy as a reminder of how things work:

Fair Use: Members are expected to follow a “fair use” policy which sees them only book into one training session per week but where vacancies exist in a session “on the day”, members are welcome to book additional session. For the purposes of this policy, a week is defined as Monday through Sunday. A Run Leader leading a training session in a given week is permitted to book into one further training session as a member within the same week. In addition, members are requested to not book into sessions that are not suited to their running abilities. Members are expected to cancel bookings that they cannot fulfil in order that other members have the opportunity to take their vacated place. No-shows may result in the loss of booking privileges. 

Abilities: The training benefit for all session attendees is maximised when sub-group attendees are all a similar ability. To facilitate this and to guide members as to which sub-groups would best suit them, we have created the following classification – members will self-classify and opt for the group which suits their ability: 

Group A – Advanced, Experienced and Fast-paced Runners (for 5k this equates to 8min 30s/mile and faster) 

Group B – Intermediate and Medium-paced Runners (for 5k this equates to 8min 30s to 10 min miles) 

Group C – Novice and Social-pace Runners (for 5k this equates to 10 min to 12 min miles) 

Group D – Walk/Run Group working towards C25k achievements (for 5k this equates to 12 min miles plus) 

 
  Monday Loopy Tuesday  Thursday 
6.50pm (PH park run start)   D C (Short) C 
7.00 pm (Outside Changing Room 4)   C B (Medium) B 
7.10 pm Pomphrey Hill sign   B  A (Long) A 


We appreciate that this structure may not suit all members but our resources (Run Leaders) are stretched such that a wider spread of sessions and times is not possible at this time. However, we will continue to review the manner in which we have recommenced activity and take feedback from members with a view to improving our offering to the membership. 

As noted above, members are requested to not book into sessions that are not suited to their running abilities and it is beneficial for the group when runners are all of a similar ability. However members should feel able to run at whatever pace they choose within the session, whatever the session. The speeds above are simply guides, they are not targets, maximums or minimums. The majority of sessions that we are currently staging for up to 12 runners have been staged pre-COVID for 30-40-50 runners. These sessions worked for all abilities in the past without speed limits or speed expectations so there is no reason why they shouldn't work for smaller groups now.

Keep active, keep strong and above all, keep on running.

Neil Newman
Chairman